Public Statements

Floor Speech

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, the Speaker of the House told the National Association of Counties a while back that Congress needed to pass the health care bill so we could find out what's in it. Well, we are finding out now.

The Chief Actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is the independent scorekeeper of legislation like this. Their report that they just issued said half of all seniors in America who are on Medicare Advantage plans, half, are going to lose that coverage under the bill that was signed into law.

Well, that's a big problem for seniors in Oregon. Oregon has had one of the highest penetration rates in the United States of seniors who wanted Medicare Advantage and signed up for it. I was out in Ontario, Oregon, not long ago, and the seniors there raised their hands and said, ``Why are they taking away the Medicare Advantage I have?'' We now know under this independent evaluation half of them will lose that care, 38,000 seniors in my district alone.

We need to repeal and replace this law that was jammed through this Congress, Mr. Speaker.